No, both the Drag Hesitation and the Change of Direction begin forward on man's LF, turning to the left. The difference is what happens after the feet brush on step 3: In a Change of Direction, the man steps LF forward, whereas in the Drag Hesitation, he steps back on his LF with lady outside partner.

In the ISTD manual, the Drag Hesitation is listed at the very end of the book as an "approved variation" in silver Waltz. As for the Change of Direction, that's mainly considered a bronze Foxtrot figure, but oddly enough is also found in the final pages of the ISTD manual as a bronze/Associate Quickstep approved variation.

One notable difference between the Foxtrot and Quickstep versions of the Change of Direction is that the final step on man's LF is treated differently: In Foxtrot, it is its own step, which is to say that the following pattern should be one that begins with the man's RF forward, such as the Feather Step. In Quickstep, however, it's treated as what I call an "overlap", which is really the first step of the following pattern. Hence the Change of Direction in Quickstep is followed directly by a left-turning figure beginning with man's LF, such as Chasse Reverse Turn or Progressive Chasse to R.

Papicolle: The mislabeling sounds like a simple mistake which should be easy enough to correct. Thanks for the tip!

Regards,Jonathan

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Re: Drag Hesitation or Change of Direction?

Posted by Papicolle

11/6/2012 12:00:00 AM

Many thanks for your answers.An thanks for the correction of the title.Regards, P.

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Re: Drag Hesitation or Change of Direction?

Posted by O.Z.

11/6/2012 4:14:00 AM

So lets see. We have a Drag Hesitation. and a Hesitation Change.They are in the Waltz.There doesn't appear to be a Change of Direction.. In the Foxtrot we have of course a Change of Direction... And a Natural Turn which has on steps 4 5 what appears to be Hesitation Change. Anyway. Just Drag the moving foot to the now standing foot and without changing weight step through with that moving foot in both the Waltz and the Foxtrot as well as the Quickstep which is called a Natural Turn.

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Re: Drag Hesitation or Change of Direction?

Posted by Waltz123

11/6/2012 8:51:00 AM

So lets see. We have a Drag Hesitation. and a Hesitation Change.They are in the Waltz.There doesn't appear to be a Change of Direction.

Correct. Of course there's no reason you couldn't dance one socially, or in an open category. It's just not in the syllabus.

In the Foxtrot we have of course a Change of Direction... And a Natural Turn which has on steps 4 5 what appears to be Hesitation Change.

Not exactly. A heel pull does not a hesitation make.

A hesitation requires a pause. The 4-5-6 of the Natural Turn in both Foxtrot and Quickstep is a continuous action, being followed by either another natural turning figure or a Feather in Foxtrot, whereas the Hesitation Change (W) and Natural Turn w/ Hesitation (QS) has a pause, and is followed by a reverse turning figure. Hence the name "Hesitation Change" -- It functions both as a hesitation, and a change step from natural to reverse. The changing of rotation adds further to the feeling of space between the two actions.